Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Features Of Groups
1. A social unit comprises two or more individuals who perceive themselves as belonging to
the group.
2. A gathering of individuals who interact with one another either directly or indirectly.
3. A collection of individuals who are interdependent which means what one is doing has
consequences for others.
4. A collection of individuals who have common motives and goals.
5. Individuals who are trying to satisfy a need through their joint association also influence
each other.
In groups, the performance of the group members depends on their contributions whereas
in a team both individual contribution and teamwork matter.
In groups, the leader is held accountable for the outcome of the goal whereas, in teams
apart from the leader, group members also hold themselves accountable for work.
The audience is defined as a collection of people who have gathered together for a
common aim let’s say for watching a cricket match but they are different from groups and
teams as the audience is passive as compared to teams and groups
The audience at times turns into a mob depending upon the situation and in a mob, there is
strong homogeneity of aim, action and also mob is pretty polarised and impulsive as well.
After understanding the features of a group and how a group is different from a team and
audience, why do people join groups :
1. Security-We feels insecure when we are alone but when we are in groups we feel secure
as being part of a group provides a sense of belongingness and comfort.
2. Status-When we belong to a group that is considered as important by others then we do
feel a sense of entitlement and it boosts our status as well.
3. Self-esteem– Being part of a prestigious group boosts our self-esteem and self-concept.
4. Provide knowledge and information-Being part of a group can be enriching as we learn a
lot from others, enhance our knowledge and broaden our horizons of knowledge.
5. Satisfaction of one’s psychological and social needs-Being part of a group satisfies our
psychological and social needs like giving and receiving attention, social acceptance, etc.
6. Goal achievement- Groups create synergy and help in accomplishing those goals which
cannot be achieved individually
Group Formation
Factors determining group formation are elucidated below:
1. Proximity-Common interests, attitudes, and background are important determinants for the
liking of your group members
2. Similarity-Being exposed to someone for a while makes us assess our similarities and
paves the way for the formation of groups
3. Common Motives And Goals-When people are driven by common goals, they get
together and form a group to facilitate the accomplishment of the group goals.
1. Forming Stage: When group members first meet, a great deal of uncertainty about the
group, goal, and the way it will be achieved and is characterized by apprehension as well
as enthusiasm.
2. Storming: Storming is the second stage of group formation in which intragroup conflict
happens regarding the accomplishment of goals, group structure, distribution, and
utilization of resources.
3. Norming: Norms related to group behavior are established and that results in harmony
instead of chaos. Positive group identity is developed.
4. Performing: Group structure takes up a proper shape and the main focus of the group in
this stage is moving ahead to execute the goal of the group.
5. Adjourning: It is the last stage of the group formation process in which after the main goal
of the group has been achieved, the group is disbanded.
1. Roles are socially defined expectations that individuals in a given situation are expected to
fulfil and it also refers to the typical behavior that depicts a person in a given social context.
2. Norms are expected standards of behavior and beliefs established, agreed upon, and
enforced upon by group members and at times they are defined as unspoken rules of the
group.
3. Status refers to the relative social position given to group members by others. This relative
position can be either ascribed (given because of seniority) or achieved (given because of
hard work).
4. Cohesiveness refers to the togetherness, binding, or mutual attraction among group
members and as the group becomes more united they think always on common ground
rather than as individuals.
Types of Groups: There are 3 types of groups that have been explained below for you all:
Primary and Secondary Groups
Primary groups
o They are pre-existing formations that are usually given to the individual
o Example: Family, Caste, Religion, etc.
Secondary groups
o These are those groups which an individual joins by choice.
o For example, a group of friends, a volunteer group, membership of a political party,
etc.
Formal groups
o In formal groups, functions are stated explicitly and members have a definite role
and also the group structure is properly defined and organized.
o For example, office organization.
Informal groups
o Functions are stated explicitly and the roles of members are not properly defined and
the group structure is unorganized as well.
o For example, a group of 5 friends
Ingroup
o Ingroup refers to one’s group and we denote it by use of ‘We’
Outgroup
o Outgroup refers to another group and it is often denoted by the term ‘they’.
1. Social facilitation
o Performance on specific tasks is influenced by the mere presence of others
o For example, Kartik is about to take part in a debate competition and the presence of
other people might boost his performance and give him an adrenaline rush as the
presence of others lead to arousal
2. Social loafing
1. It is defined as a reduction in individual effort when working on a collective task that
is the one in which outputs are pooled with those of other group members
2. For example, in the game of tug of war as in this game, it is difficult to identify who is
applying how much force.
3. Causes behind social loafing are:
People feel their contribution would not be evaluated on an individual basis
Group members feel less responsible for the overall task being performed
There might be a lack of coordination and team spirit amongst the members.
4. Ways to reduce social loafing
Making efforts of each member visible
Making people feel valued and significant for their contribution
Development of teamwork and coordination amongst the group.
Conformity
It implies behaving according to the group norm which means expectations of other group
members and those who don’t conform are termed as deviants or non-conformists. Determinants
of Conformity are:
The Foot in the door technique: The person begins by making a small request so that the
other person is not likely to refuse. Once the other person carries out the request, a bigger
request is made and that is how the person complies
The Deadline technique: In this technique, the last date is announced until which a
particular product/service will be available and that creates a sense of urgency.
The Door in the face technique: In this technique, when the person begins with a large
request and when this is refused a later request for something smaller, the one that was
desired is made.
Obedience
It is a response to a person in authority and people who hold high authority positions have
effective means for enforcing their orders. Reasons, why people obey, are:
Cooperation implies that people are working together to achieve shared goals for mutual
benefit.
Competition implies that group members try to maximize their benefits and work for the
fulfillment of self-interest rather than mutual benefit
Groups can cooperative as well as competitive depending on various factors elucidated
below-
o Reward Structure: whether people will cooperate or compete depends on the
reward structure which might be cooperative or competitive.
o Interpersonal Communication: Cooperation among group members depends on
whether there is good interpersonal communication between members or not
o Reciprocity: It means that people feel obliged to return what they get. cooperation
begets cooperation and competition begets competition.
Important Questions
List down strategies for reducing conflicts.
Various strategies like negotiations, altering perceptions, increasing inter-group contact, structural
solutions, increasing inter-group contact, etc. must be implemented for reducing the conflicts.
Elaborate upon the stages of group formation.Elaborate upon the stages of group
formation.
Various stages of group formation are forming, storming, norming, performing, and the adjourning
stage.